"Kenya's public prosecutions office said in a statement on X on Wednesday that it had charged Paul Mackenzie and other defendants with organized criminal activity, two counts of radicalization (and) two counts of facilitating commission of a terrorist act in relation to the deaths of at least 52 people at Kwa Binzaro area in Chakama, Kilifi County. The defendants pleaded not guilty, with the next hearing in the case due on March 4."
"Prosecutors say Mackenzie and his Good News International Church organised a cult in which they ordered followers to starve themselves and their children to death to go to heaven before the world ended. Mackenzie has denied the accusations. By 2025, two years after investigations began, prosecutors said more than 400 bodies had been recovered from Shakahola Forest, which is located in Kilifi County on Kenya's east coast."
Paul Mackenzie and seven others have been charged with organised criminal activity, two counts of radicalisation and two counts of facilitating a terrorist act related to deaths in Kilifi County. At least 52 deaths are linked to the Kwa Binzaro area, and the defendants pleaded not guilty; the next hearing is scheduled for March 4. Prosecutors allege the group promoted an extreme belief system opposing government authority and organised a cult that ordered followers to starve themselves and their children. Investigations recovered more than 400 bodies from Shakahola Forest by 2025; most deaths were from hunger, while others showed signs of strangulation, beating or suffocation. Mackenzie denies the accusations and has remained in custody after earlier manslaughter charges.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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